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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22891777">Insomnia</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenna_the_antenna/pseuds/kenna_the_antenna'>kenna_the_antenna</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affection, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hugs, Insomnia, Let them be Soft, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:27:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22891777</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenna_the_antenna/pseuds/kenna_the_antenna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Wild has trouble sleeping. The other boys help in their own different ways.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>392</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Insomnia sucks and since I can't sleep, Wild doesn't get to sleep either.<br/>This is super short, and I'm sorry!<br/>This first chapter is Twilight, Time, Sky, and Legend. The next will be Hyrule, Four, Wind, and Warriors.<br/>Based off of Jojo56830's Linked Universe AU.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wild wondered if he’d always had trouble sleeping. From what Zelda and his memories told him, it was likely. He didn’t think anyone with the weight of the world on their shoulders slept very well. </p><p>When he’d first woken up, wide-eyed and wobbly-legged without an inkling of who he was, sleep hadn’t come easily. Now, with the Calamity gone and Zelda safe, sleep still didn’t come easily. When it did, it was usually short lived and plagued with fuzzy visions that he’d wake from, unable to decipher if they were memories or just the twisted machinations of a nightmare. </p><p>Wild was used to suffering alone. Waking up in a cold sweat, no one around but himself and a few fireflies floating overhead, blindly grappling for a shield in his bed in Hateno after a guardian in his dreams had scuttled over; if he’d ever known a gentle and comforting touch before, he had no recollection of it now. </p><p>At least not till he’d met the other eight Heroes. </p><p>Twilight had been the first to know. He always had been able to pick up on Wild’s thoughts and emotions before the others. Having a wolf’s keen sense of hearing didn’t exactly hurt either, able to notice the slight change in pace when Wild’s dreams went from monotonous to monstrous. Usually as Wolfie, he’d wake the young Hero and offer silent support. A solid weight to lean against and find warmth and comfort in till he could drift off again. Those nights, Wild would wake the next morning carefully tucked within his bed roll and blankets, hair matted down as if someone had spent a good hour smoothing it down in a comforting gesture. </p><p>Time had been the next to offer comfort, in such a similar gesture to Twilight’s, that Wild was sure his mentor had learned it from the Old Man. He didn’t think Time got too much sleep either, and he couldn’t blame him. Wild didn’t know the trials his mentor’s mentor had been put through, but even the best warrior would not be able to come out the other side unscathed. </p><p>When Wild would wake with a start and creep out of camp for a moment to settle his racing heart, Time would follow. Silently sitting next to one another, barely visible in the dim moonlight, they’d share each other’s company. The teen never knew how it happened, but eventually his eyes would get heavy, his body lax as he’d feel safe again. He remembered a few sleepy memories of his head drooping onto Time’s shoulder and a strong, reassuring arm draping around his own shoulders. He never could remember walking back to camp, and yet every morning after those nights, he’d wake tucked safe, sound, and snug in a heap of blankets that reminded him of their visit to Lon Lon Ranch. </p><p>Sky was a talker when he couldn’t sleep. It was a rare occurrence for the near narcoleptic Hero to fail to find sleep, and sometimes, Wild felt like the other was forcing himself to stay awake for the sole purpose of helping him out. </p><p>The Hero of the Wild found Sky’s ability to talk quite admirable, in a way. He never ran out of things to say. It really was a talent. Get him tired enough, and Sky could ramble about absolutely nothing for hours. It helped Wild at least. He would be awake, sitting up on his bedroll when he’d feel a warm hand on his shoulder. One glance over, and he’d be met with an even warmer smile.<br/>
If Wild were a different teen, he might have been embarrassed that on the nights where Sky kept him company, he usually ended up with his head in the older Hero’s lap. However, Sky was the Hylian embodiment of a hug and all Wild felt was comfy. The Hero of the Sky would run his hands through Wild’s hair and just talk till they were both out cold. When Wild would wake in the morning, usually well before Sky, he’d find his hair a giant knot, and the culprit still sitting up even as he slept. It was endearing, and Wild never could stay mad at him, even when he had to enlist the help of Warriors to detangle his hair.</p><p>Legend was there for the nights that he couldn’t sleep at all. He’d itch, wanting to toss and turn but unwilling to risk waking anyone else. Wild eventually would wait to hear breathing even out before he’d move, tiptoeing away to find a nice spot to watch the moon. He’d found Legend doing just that one night, and after a moment of surprised staring, the more seasoned Hero just sighed and patted the ground next to him. They talked those nights, and Wild had a feeling that Legend had never told anyone else some of the things they discussed. Sometimes it would be silly. The quirky merchants they’d encountered, their shared disdain for wizzrobes. Some nights, Wild would talk about Mipha. Some nights Legend would tell him about Koholint. He’d even talked about Marin. It only happened once. They were at Lurelin Village and they’d found each other atop the lookout. Wild could smell the alcohol halfway up the ladder, and once he’d reached the top, Legend told him all about Marin. Wild hadn’t talked that night. He’d simply helped Legend down the ladder back to his bed at the inn, plucked the last bottle from his grasp, and tossed a blanket over him. </p><p>They didn’t talk about Koholint anymore, but Wild still found himself next to Legend after that, sharing stories in the moonlight when sleep was a touch too difficult to find that night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is Wind, Four, Warriors, and Hyrule. I also ended up writing a little more of Wild also helping out these boys with their own bad nights as well. Traumatized hero solidarity and all that. <br/>Please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Having a group of capable Heroes watching his back helped Wild sleep far better than he had while on his travels alone, but as the days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, Wild knew that there would always be bad nights no matter how safe and loved he felt. Knowing that he had people to lean on at least made them easier to get through, and if he could help someone else get through their own bad nights, all the better. </p>
<p>Wind’s bad nights always seemed to be noisy till Wild got involved. Where Wild would silently tremble during a nightmare, Wind thrashed. It had caused numerous bruises to the others, swatted by a flailing limb, or elbowed as they tried to wake him, grunts and whimpers filling the air. Wild and Sky seemed to have the best luck avoiding the sleeping teen’s wrath, and where Sky was an unyielding presence, chattering away, there were some nights where words just couldn’t suffice. Wild was there for those nights. In a way, Wind’s disruptive nightmare routine helped Wild. It would rouse Wild from his own unconscious prison, and in turn, he would try to help the other. </p>
<p>He would wake Wind, and they’d sit, sometimes for hours, long after their limbs grew heavy and numb, and just hold one another in a tight hug. Faces buried in one another’s shoulders; they took solace in the fact they weren’t alone. They were both far too young when they had to take up the Master Sword and fight against unimaginable evil, to face the losses that they had, to grow up when all they wanted was to experience the childhood they had been robbed of. Words were never enough those nights, and neither boy tried to fool themselves into thinking it was. They had each other though, and it made the weight on their shoulders far easier to bear. </p>
<p>Four was the complete opposite of Wind. Usually fairly quiet and reserved during the day, he was the same most nights until the bad ones. On particularly bad nights, he would seek Wild out, waking him with a shake of his shoulder. The first night it happened, Wild had nearly screamed, afraid he was being attacked by a tiny bokoblin or a murderous child.</p>
<p> He’d been shushed and led out a small way away from the camp. There, Four talked. Wild felt like the other must surely usually talk to someone else about the troubles plaguing his mind, but sometimes whoever he talked to, must not always be willing to listen. That was where he came in, he supposed. Four didn’t want pity, not like Sky or Hyrule would give him, he didn’t need advice from Twilight or Time, or judgement from Legend or Warriors. He certainly didn’t need any boisterous advice from Wind. </p>
<p>Wild would just listen. He’d give advice if asked, but he never pitied, never judged. Only listened. Wild would sit and listen till Four’s voice was hoarse and he’d talked himself around in circles, just wanting an ear he could lean into. Touches were scarce with Four, the occasional shoulder pat, an even rarer hug, but Wild never minded. The other teen showed that he cared in other ways, especially when he let Wild reciprocate the gesture. Always being someone Wild could rant to if need be. He never told Wild that his feelings were idiotic, or try to quell his anger with hugs if he was upset. He listened, till Wild had it all off his chest and felt better. Their nights were few and far between, but even if he didn’t sleep much those nights, Wild never did mind.</p>
<p>Warriors was a mixed bag. Some nights were only bad for Wild. The older Hero would be on watch, and when Wild bolted upright in a cold sweat, the knight would be by his side, asking him what he needed. He’d commanded troops before, had men under his care. He knew that it was never good to let a bad night fester. He would hold Wild when it was needed, distract him when asked with stories of his utterly pathetic luck in his love life. He was there when Wild needed to talk it out, when the Hero needed to go out to a clearing and have a midnight spar session just to help tire his tense body out. </p>
<p>Wild tried to return the favor the best he could when the nights were bad for Warriors as well. Sometimes they’d still spar, sometimes he’d sit and let Warriors repeatedly press calloused fingers to his neck, checking again and again that Wild was still breathing, his heart still beating after a nightmare that he’d lost them all. Sometimes they’d get to fall asleep again, limbs tangled together as Warriors tossed a protective arm over the younger. Sometimes sleep never visited them again that night, and Legend would tell them both that they looked awful. Wild didn’t mind either way, as long as he could help Warriors even a little. </p>
<p>When Wild had bad nights and Hyrule came to the rescue, those nights were probably the worst for everyone else. The boys wandered, it was ingrained in them both, and they fed one another’s fire. If they were in a town or a safe place, it worried the other Heroes less, but Wild and Hyrule would wander off anywhere when the soft snoring of the other seven became too much some nights. Wild had learned early on his mission to defeat Calamity Ganon, that waking suddenly in the middle of the night meant he should move. That something was lurking in the shadows, and so he had to leave that area. Hyrule had learned the same thing. They were travelers at the heart of it all, and no matter how many monsters they managed to fight off, or how many memories Wild remembered of his knight training, they felt at peace wandering. Sometimes Wild would feel his skin itch, on edge and Hyrule would stay a few feet away, traveling in silence. Some nights, they’d link hands, chatting and laughing as they shared stories, feeling less tense with each step. </p>
<p>There was always a fair chance that they wouldn’t go far, just enough to ease the tension in their chests before crawling back underneath their blankets to sleep soundly the rest of the night. Of course, Hyrule and Wild hadn’t earned their reputation amongst the group if they didn’t also get lost on occasion. One of the boys would wake up and find them gone, and soon Wolfie would be leading them back to camp, absolutely furious. Sometimes no one noticed till morning, but by then, Hyrule managed to find a familiar rock or tree and lead them back before earning a lecture from Time. Wild wouldn’t admit it, but sometimes it felt better to get lost with Hyrule than risk having another nightmare. </p>
<p>Wild certainly had his fair share of bad nights, but with the eight other Heroes by his side, he slept more soundly than he ever had before in his life.</p>
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